BACK TO SCHOOL… Don’t Forget about that Summer Reading Assignment!

    It’s almost August! So is it too late for your kids to do some summer homework?

    FOX’s Lisa Brady reports in this week’s ‘FOX on Family’:

    It’s hard for math and reading to compete with summer fun, leaving summer homework on the back burner:

    (Dr. Hirsh-Pasek) “You wait until the very last moment, the very last breath, and then you cram it.”

    But psychologist Dr. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek says some is still better than none. If you have to pick one thing, make it reading, which can help with every other subject.

    The mother of three and grandmother says bartering works for her:

    (Dr. Hirsh-Pasek) “You can say, ‘if you can have the first 10 pages of that book read, you can go out and play for ten minutes.'”

    She says it also helps to talk beyond the book, relating its themes to real life. And make learning fun. Do it with your kids and look for hidden everyday lessons; the way water evaporates and leaves fall or how much sand weighs:

    (Dr. Hirsh-Pasek) “I think the minute you cast it as, ‘you must do your homework,’ I know I would like run away from that, even if you put bells and whistles on it.”

    Hirsh-Pasek also says kids can learn real-world skills from summer fun. Like collaborating and communicating on who gets the swing next.

    With FOX on Family, I’m Lisa Brady.

    Dr. Hirsh-Pasek emphasizes skills you can grow in the real world. Her family used to play ‘make your best argument,’ and her youngest son would argue for having pizza for dinner, listing each of its food groups. So when he got to fourth grade, he thought five-paragraph essays were easy! Hirsh-Pasek’s latest book, ‘Becoming Brilliant’, talks about six C’s kids need for success in today’s world: Collaborate, communicate, content, critical thinking, creative innovation and confidence.